Annual Forbes Burnham Memorial Table Tennis Tournament…
The annual Forbes Burnham Memorial Table Tennis Tournament, organized and coordinated by the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) under the rules, regulations and authority of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), is scheduled to start on Friday. 
The Cliff Anderson Sports Hall is the venue for this event, which wraps up on Saturday.
Being staged so soon after the National and Juniors Table Tennis Championships, this tournament will be one to watch; because top players will be seeking to maintain their winning streak, while others will be seeking to carve a name for themselves as some of Guyana’s top athletes come out to battle.
In an interview with this publication, National Coach Linden Johnson said, “What we are expecting is a higher competition, as we know the seniors are preparing for the Olympic Qualifiers and the Caribbean Championships. The Juniors will also be preparing for the Caribbean Championships, which will be in the first and last week in April.
“The reason why we have the ‘C’ and ‘B’ Class Open and the Open Singles (tournaments) is that we want more females to be engaged (in the sport) and more competition (in those classes). The participants so far are close to 100 persons. Bartica, Essequibo and Berbice are all expected to participate.”
The championships will see 4 categories being contested: The C Class Open, 21 years-and-under Open, B Class Open, and Seniors’ Open.
The “C” Class Open singles and 21 Years-and-under Open singles will commence on Friday from 16:00 hrs, and continue on Saturday from 09:00 hrs.
The “B” Class Open Singles will take place from 11:00 hrs on Saturday, and the day’s programme will culminate with the Seniors’ Open Singles tournament, which commences from 15:00 hrs.
The first stage will be played on a round-robin basis in groups of even-numbered players, but there shall not be less than 3 and not more than 5 players in a group, and priority will be given to groups of 4 players.
If there are 5 or less players, the event will be played as a round-robin without knock-out.
Two players from each group advance to the second stage, which will be played in a knockout format. The draws will be done for the event at the venue on Thursday February 20 from 18:00hrs. The deadline for entry to events is 5pm on Thursday.
